Minister of Health Honorable Nkaku Kabi says as the year 2019 ends, he has written letters with which he dissolves Lesotho Bureau of Cannabis and its secretariat and start from scratch.

He said when he first arrived at Ministry of Health, he found Bureau of Cannabis and its secretariat already formed, but they have never attended any sitting on cannabis though they have been invited.

He said they are now planning to involve the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC), and other stakeholders in forming a new bureau of cannabis.

In his remarks, he said they decided to dissolve the current bureau of cannabis after their meeting with LNDC, realizing they are still on a learning curve with cannabis production.

He said cannabis industry is a multi-billion industry, though they currently do not have good mechanisms for distilling oil from cannabis, and estimating the cost and returns the government will get in transporting it into the market.

He said this time the bureau will be formed with different experts, from the intelligence and tax departments of the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA), and from Ministries of Agriculture and Trade and Industry, to ensure the success of this industry.

He further said they have set up cannabis industrial hemp at Ha-‘Mant’sebo in the Maseru district and it will start operating in January next year.

He also said the hemp will hire more than 45 000 people.